Chapter 769

Fortunately, Min Yuan had experienced this sort of thing more than once or twice.

After the initial fury, he gradually calmed down.

These law worlds had cost him immense effort and manpower to locate; losing them meant he could not advance further in the short term.

But soon Min Yuan realized that even if he hadn't lost these law worlds, he still couldn't advance further.

There were two reasons: first, he couldn't refine these law worlds into his own power in a short time.

Second, the rules of this realm restricted him—no matter how much cultivation resources he had, he could not make a single step forward.

Min Yuan stood outside the now-empty Spatial Law World, his thoughts shifting from anger to regret, then to confusion, and finally deep contemplation.

Once, he had collected nearly every treasure belonging to gods and lesser deities of status, with as many as one hundred thousand supreme divine veins at their peak.

Various divine artifacts and heavenly Dao fruits were countless.

That was because his title, Great Sage Min Yuan, was known to all.

His benevolence and virtue were unmatched.

Everyone knew that if they left their belongings with him, no matter what happened in the future, as long as they found Min Yuan, their things would never be lost.

But what had all this brought him?

Aside from temporary wealth, there seemed to be no other benefit.

Those riches and titles could not become his cultivation; apart from briefly making him the object of everyone's admiration, Min Yuan remained the same hidden existence.

Because every god who returned through reincarnation came seeking treasures from him.

At first he could crush them with force; later, he could only flee and hide.

Then he met the one who still filled him with fear today—Kun Yun of the Seventy-Two was his errand boy, and even sages were his lackeys…

Even as a Great Sage, Min Yuan could only hide.

He had hidden even in the Underworld, yet still encountered a second person who made his heart tremble.

This one took away a pile of supreme divine veins from him and even excavated his Chaotic Divine Source.

He dared not confront him, and could only flee from that universe.

The reason was that they were too strong, and their growth speed was too fast.

He had watched with his own eyes two ants grow into beings he could never hope to look up to.

Losing the divine veins and countless treasures, he instead broke through to true Sage realm and reached the Fourth Reincarnation Sage level.

Today he met a third such person, who took away his accumulated wealth of nearly ten thousand years right under his nose.

Wealth could not elevate him to a higher level—should he make some change?

The first two ants forced him to give up treasures he once valued more than life, yet he helplessly watched them rise to supreme power.

Since he had encountered a third, why not learn from Kun Yun or Huan Ti and attach himself to him?

The one who took his law worlds was certainly the same kind as the previous two.

Once he rose, he would stand atop the peak of a universe.

Min Yuan had experienced too much; his experience told him he wouldn't be wrong.

He didn't know how Kun Yun was faring now, but surely he was doing far better than this hiding Great Sage?

Only he himself still believed he was a Great Sage; in a true mid-tier universe, his cultivation was nothing but an ant easily crushed.

Among those who lived on his Void Rule Island, who truly respected him?

They merely relied on the Void Rule Island to survive, then falsely flattered him.

If so, why not go find the one who took all his law worlds?

Someone who could refine and merge so many law worlds—attaching himself to such a person wouldn't be beneath him.

At least he wouldn't have to keep struggling endlessly.

He looked back at the Void Rule Island.

Min Yuan decided to abandon the Void Rule Island and his adopted sons under the name of Great Sage, to seek out the young man who had taken his law worlds.

If he couldn't find this young man, he would find another way to reach the mid-tier universe.

The past had told him: staying here held no future.

…

Ding Huan's Universe Cauldron moved slowly; he wasn't worried Min Yuan the Great Sage would catch up.

He searched for the location of the Three Gods Land while sensing the law worlds in the void.

If he could find even one Time Law World, his power would leap a great level after he attained Sagehood.

The vast universe was boundless.

Even though Ding Huan had reached the universe where the Three Gods Land lay, finding it was still an endless prospect.

Thirty years passed in the blink of an eye; Ding Huan hadn't found the Three Gods Land, nor had he encountered a single living soul.

As for cultivation, he hadn't advanced an inch—he remained at Pretender Sage Level Four.

Without law worlds, even with a mountain of cultivation resources, Ding Huan's progress was still extremely difficult.

This vast universe had endured multiple Cataclysmic Calamities; the heavenly rules were shattered beyond repair.

Thus, without law worlds, cultivation advancement was virtually impossible here.

Decades passed, and Ding Huan found not a single law world.

At this point, he genuinely admired Great Sage Min Yuan.

This guy had actually found over a thousand law worlds—his operational ability was no small feat.

Ding Huan decided to stop wasting time on meaningless cultivation and searching for law worlds; he took out the Eternal Seal and began refining it.

As Ding Huan refined each seal within the Eternal Seal, he perceived one new Fu Dao Law after another.

At first, Ding Huan's body was enveloped in the Dao aura glow of the Eternal Seal.

In the end, Ding Huan became utterly immersed in the boundless expanse of the Rune Dao's principles.

Refining the Eternal Rune would not take long, but after absorbing those Rune Dao principles, Ding Huan had no idea time was slipping away rapidly.

In the end, the Cosmic Pot in which Ding Huan sat was enveloped by the Dao resonance of the Eternal Rune.

At this moment, the Cosmic Pot moved through the vastness like a brilliant meteor, dazzling and radiant.

When he first obtained the Eternal Rune, Ding Huan believed it was merely a tool to carry him into higher cosmic realms.

After refining and fusing the Dao resonance and principles of the Eternal Rune,

Ding Huan finally understood the boundless expanse of Rune Dao.

In Ding Huan's longstanding understanding,

For low-level cultivators, the most important path was Alchemy, then Array Dao, then Artifact Dao.

For high-level cultivators, the most important path was Array Dao, then Alchemy, then Artifact Dao.

As for Rune Dao, Ding Huan had always considered it the lowest priority.

Because it was optional, offering little real assistance to one's Dao.

Now, after perceiving billions of Rune Dao principles, Ding Huan realized Rune Dao was the primary auxiliary Dao for cultivators.

Whether Alchemy, Array, Artifact, or any other method,

None could ever match Rune Dao.

He had thought Rune Dao was a minor path because he had never deeply engaged with it.

Today, through the billions of Rune Dao principles in the Eternal Rune, he had finally encountered it.

The Five Elements principles, Space-Time principles, Darkness and Light principles, Ice, Thunder, and Wind principles…

All of these could be fused into Rune Dao.

The Eternal Rune had long been refined by Ding Huan, yet he remained lost in its boundless principles.

One rune after another, Ding Huan casually forged and tossed aside.

From the earliest low-grade divine runes to top-grade divine runes, even low-grade Breakthrough Runes gradually appeared around Ding Huan.

As time passed, the outer surface of the Cosmic Pot was entirely covered by runes of various attributes and purposes.

Under the golden Dao resonance of the Eternal Rune, these runes resembled starry treasures, circling the Cosmic Pot.

In the blink of an eye, a hundred years passed, yet Ding Huan remained lost in rune crafting, with no sign of awakening.

If at first Ding Huan had been contemplating various Rune Dao Dao resonances,

Later, he was unconsciously forging runes under the influence of the Eternal Rune's Rune Dao resonance.

Only now had the Cosmic Pot ceased moving.

The Cosmic Pot bore a great array arranged by Ding Huan; it would not stop unless he actively halted it.

Now it had stopped because the Cosmic Pot was locked in place by countless prohibitions.

Around the Cosmic Pot hovered countless flying treasures.

Several beams of attack light struck the Cosmic Pot, triggering a skyward explosion of Dao resonance.

As more people prepared to launch their treasures against the Cosmic Pot,

A tall man clad in a brown Sage's robe stepped forward: "Fellow Daoists, have you noticed that this flying treasure is entirely wrapped in runes?"

"Moreover, the Dao resonance surrounding it carries an expanse beyond this universe—it is no ordinary artifact."

"As Lord of the Dao Court, I urge you not to strike blindly. Let us unite to break these prohibitions, then discuss what comes next."

Everyone recognized this speaker: Lord of the Dao Court, Emperor Jue Yuan.

Though within the Dao Court, few factions truly respected this Eternal Sage Emperor.

Yet as the common lord of the Dao Court, his speaking out now was not out of place.

The Buddha Kingdom's Patriarch Pi Yuan also stepped forward, performing a Buddhist hand gesture, and declared loudly:

"Emperor Jue Yuan speaks truth: without rules, there can be no order. We must establish a protocol."

"If this is a supreme treasure, all may share in its bounty. Haphazard attacks serve no purpose."

Another Buddhist chant rang out: "Excellent. My Western Sect endorses Emperor Jue Yuan's proposal."

This speaker was a man with long ears.

He was the Saintly Master of the Buddha Sect, Ding Ding Guangxian.

The Buddha Sect and the Buddha Kingdom were irreconcilable enemies, yet now both endorsed Lord Jue Yuan's proposal—no one else dared object.

Just as Emperor Jue Yuan was about to propose how to break open the flying treasure, a rough voice suddenly spoke: "Fellow Daoists, has anyone noticed this flying treasure seems familiar?"

A Semi-Sage standing beside Emperor Jue Yuan sighed:

"Not just familiar—it's Ding Huan's iron pot. It's just been hidden beneath layers of runes and Rune Dao resonance, so no one recognized it at first."

This speaker was Yi Han—he had been carried out of the Eternal God Abyss by Ding Huan's Cosmic Pot, and he recognized it at once.